Eye on Healthcare
Setting New Standards In Care Industry
Aspen Ireland and its sister company Healthcare Ireland might just rank as one – or is it two – of the hidden gems of the Northern Ireland business scene.
Gilbert Yates, Managing Director, Aspen Ireland.
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he company has relatively humble roots as a small family-run building firm established in the mid 1970’s by Gilbert Yates, senior, but Gilbert Yates junior who took over the family construction business in 1994, developed a successful insurance restoration company and property development company and is now the force behind the expanding nursing home enterprise. But just this summer, it unveiled an 82-bed nursing home, Bradley Manor, in Belfast’s Crumlin Road area which ranks as one of Northern Ireland’s very first 5-star plus facilities of its kind. “Bradley Manor offers the kind of comfort and facilities that sets new standards in the nursing home sector,” says Gilbert Yates, junior, Managing Director of both Aspen and Healthcare Ireland Ltd. “It’s a facility that we are hugely proud of, and the reaction from residents, their families and other visitors has been very encouraging. “It raises the bar for others to follow,
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and we’re confident that it is just the start of exciting times for our group of companies. Our plan is to develop and build more nursing homes in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland to a similar standard to Bradley Manor.” Nursing homes are a relatively new departure for Aspen & Healthcare Ireland, a deliberate and well planned diversification into a market where Gilbert Yates and his team could see clear business opportunities. Since Aspen left its general construction roots behind and moved into the specialist nursing home sector, it has built facilities across Northern Ireland and in GB for a number of other major healthcare groups. “What we aim to do now is to establish a new gold standard of care based on the 5-star plus facilities on offer at Bradley Manor in Belfast.” These include first-class healthcare facilities, motion detection systems, a dedicated chef and kitchen team and a senior management team including care,
housekeeping and clinical specialists. Having built nursing homes for others, it was a logical step for Aspen Ireland to move into nursing home operations and management via Healthcare Ireland. Success has been rapid, and the company has been nominated in the Most Outstanding Healthcare Development category at the UK Care Awards, due to be held in London in November. “While we were developing care home facilities for other groups, we saw a clear need for higher levels of accommodation and care, and for a much higher standard of living for residents. “So we brought together a professional multi-disciplinary team that was able to take these ideas, roll out a business model and then deliver the kind of professional, high quality operations that we expect at this level. “Our target now is a network of 12 homes across Northern Ireland under the Healthcare Ireland banner, and we have